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NSA Has Backdoor Access to All iPhones

All Apple devices have been successfully infected by the NSA with spyware, according to new documents published by Der Speigel, the German magazine.
We first saw the story on The Daily Dot, and it is chilling:

An NSA program called DROPOUTJEEP allows the agency to intercept SMS messages, access contact lists, locate a phone using cell tower data, and even activate the device’s microphone and camera.

... According to leaked documents, the NSA claims a 100 percent success rate when it comes to implanting iOS devices with spyware. The documents suggest that the NSA needs physical access to a device to install the spyware—something the agency has achieved by rerouting shipments of devices purchased online—but a remote version of the exploit is also in the works.

The latest report, this time via Der Spiegel and based on internal NSA documents, reveals that the NSA, in conjunction with the CIA and FBI, has begun intercepting laptops purchased online in order to install (quite literal) spyware and even hardware on the machines. The NSA terms this “interdiction.” Agents divert shipments to secret warehouses, carefully open the packages, install the software and/or hardware, and send them on their way.

According to the report, this operation is carried out by the NSA’s elite hacking unit, or TAO—not to be confused with the much less imposing Taoism—though there are few details on the scope or targets of the program.

The spy agency reportedly has backdoor access to numerous hardware and software systems from prominent tech companies such as Cisco, Dell, and Western Digital, among others. The NSA can even exploit Microsoft Windows error reports to find weak spots in compromised machines in order to install Trojans and other viruses.

I'm picturing text conversations between terrorists and some poor NSA analyst is trying to figure out whether the word "handjob" is code for something or just an autocorrect.

Anyway I'm not cool enough for an iphone so this doesn't affect me. Like most terrorists I don't buy my electronics to fit my self image. But what this whole series of stories reminds me of is the hunt for Bin Laden. They put the full technological might of the US Government behind the effort to figure out if he was the guy in that compound, and when it came down to decide it was really not much better than a coin flip. That lesson should have been instructive about the limitations of even the most invasive technological program, but instead I guess they decided they needed to intrude more, with more technology.

Somehow I doubt these programs do very much to save anyone. We're told that by the people in charge, but I don't particularly buy it. The stories I've read have all ended up sounding like someone got mouthy on a message board and then was goaded into some minor "terrorist" action -- like throwing a grenade, provided by the Feds, into a garbage can in a public place -- which they never would have done if the government double agent hadn't shown up, given them the grenade, and talked them into it.

I'm picturing text conversations between terrorists and some poor NSA analyst is trying to figure out whether the word "handjob" is code for something or just an autocorrect.

Anyway I'm not cool enough for an iphone so this doesn't affect me. Like most terrorists I don't buy my electronics to fit my self image. But what this whole series of stories reminds me of is the hunt for Bin Laden. They put the full technological might of the US Government behind the effort to figure out if he was the guy in that compound, and when it came down to decide it was really not much better than a coin flip. That lesson should have been instructive about the limitations of even the most invasive technological program, but instead I guess they decided they needed to intrude more, with more technology.

Somehow I doubt these programs do very much to save anyone. We're told that by the people in charge, but I don't particularly buy it. The stories I've read have all ended up sounding like someone got mouthy on a message board and then was goaded into some minor "terrorist" action -- like throwing a grenade, provided by the Feds, into a garbage can in a public place -- which they never would have done if the government double agent hadn't shown up, given them the grenade, and talked them into it.

I admit knowing little about the exact law and how it applies to those cases, but that sounds an awful lot like entrapment.

I admit knowing little about the exact law and how it applies to those cases, but that sounds an awful lot like entrapment.

The reality is that no matter if it is constitutional or not, the NSA will keep monitoring the internet and phones....openly or in secret. As much as I do not like it, there isn't anything that can be done about it.

The reality is that no matter if it is constitutional or not, the NSA will keep monitoring the internet and phones....openly or in secret. As much as I do not like it, there isn't anything that can be done about it.